State Fiscal Year 2021 Enacted Budget Overview

On April 2, 2020, Governor Cuomo enacted the SFY ‘21 $177 billion
budget. CCC appreciates the challenging climate in which final budget
negotiations took place and thanks the Governor and the New York State
Legislature for their response to COVID-19.

The enacted budget includes several small but significant victories
for children and families that CCC has championed for several years.
However, the state budget also includes damaging cuts and cost-shifts
that will hurt the ability of New York City and other localities to
provide the necessary support for immediate needs and recovery. The
state budget also does not go far enough to protect the hardest hit
New Yorkers and communities during this pandemic. We urge the State to
refrain from future cuts and to maximize federal relief resources to
mitigate the harmful impacts of this crisis.

Importantly, the enacted state budget includes several small
victories that CCC has advocated for, including the following:

Ends adult incarceration of youth by transferring facilities
operated by the adult Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision to oversight by the Office of Children and Families.

Ends the harmful use of solitary confinement in Adolescent Offender
facilities where currently youth can be subjected to solitary
confinement for up to 22 hours a day.

Reforms the State Central Register to implement a higher standard to
prove child maltreatment and limits reporting to employers, policy
changes that will help counter racial inequities in the child
welfare system and reduce economic insecurity.

Includes $250 million to support local Raise the Age reforms (rest
of state, excluding NYC).

Includes $1.7 million to restore reimbursement rates for Children
and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS). These innovative
behavioral health services were designed to provide family-focused,
community-based supports intended to find and treat children’s
behavioral health problems early and prevent hospitalization.

Protects Children’s Health Homes from across the board budget cuts.

Removes a proposal that would have allowed school districts to seek
waivers that would have enabled them to opt out of important special
education requirements.

Restores $5 million to the Advantage Afterschool program

In addition, the Budget includes several new proposals, many in
response to COVID-19.
The budget enacts a permanent Paid Sick Leave program requiring at
least five days of paid sick leave for business with 5-99 employees,
and seven sick days for businesses with more than 100 employees. The
budget also bans flavored e-cigarettes, caps insulin co-pays at $100,
prohibits gender-based pricing discrimination on menstrual products
and other goods and services, and provides $10 million in funding to
school districts to address student mental health in response to
school closures.

However, at a time when New Yorkers desperately need greater State
support to combat the devastating impacts of COVID-19, the State
budget also includes deeply damaging budget cuts and cost
shifts.
The enacted budget includes over a billion dollars in cuts to
Medicaid, though these cuts are being delayed which will allow the
State to draw down federal stimulus funding for COVID-19 efforts. The
budget also maintains deep cuts to New York City’s Article 6 Public
Health Fund, shifts new costs on to NYC across sectors including child
welfare and homeless services, and reduces funding available for Early
Intervention. Cumulatively, City officials estimate the state budget
will result in approximately $800 million in cost-shifts to NYC.

Additionally, the state budget keeps school funding entirely unchanged
for the first time in six years. Even before this crisis, and
especially now considering it, New York’s students needed more support
than ever. Unfortunately, federal education funds granted to New York
as part of the stimulus relief package were used to fill in state
school aid cuts, resulting in overall flat funding for schools, but
preventing localities from using those federal dollars to fund new
supports that will be needed for students most-impacted by learning
loss in the movement to remote-learning.

Moreover, the budget does not include any new investments in child
care, Pre-K, Preschool Special Education, or rental subsidies to
prevent homelessness. The lack of investment in these services for
families and communities most at risk will prove to make New York’s
recovery even more challenging.

New Yorkers are facing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, with
nearly every aspect of health, mental health, housing, child
welfare, education, and economic security impacted.
The SFY ‘21 Budget grants the Governor the authority to revisit the
budget at regular intervals and propose additional cuts to
municipalities. New York City is already facing a $1.3 billion
reduction in its budget for the current fiscal year and is facing a
gap of $6 billion for the coming fiscal year, an amount which may well
grow. Moving forward, we must work with advocates, families, and
elected leaders to ensure that the City of New York has the resources
needed to protect the services that are so essential to help families
weather this storm, come out whole, and recover.